Typically, vehicle drivers tend to cause oscillations in vehicle speed about an intended target speed due to unintended perturbations of a vehicle control, e.g., an accelerator pedal. These perturbations result in reduced fuel economy and reduced passenger comfort. Although perturbations in driver demand, and thus vehicle speed, may be eliminated or at least greatly reduced with the use of existing cruise control systems, drivers are often reluctant to use cruise control in certain situations and/or use of cruise control may be impractical in certain situation. For example, a desired speed may be too low for cruise control, traffic congestion makes the use of cruise impossible or impractical, or use of cruise control may be unnerving for the driver, e.g., as may be the case with so-called “adaptive” cruise control. Moreover, some drivers prefer to remain in manual control of vehicle speed as a matter of preference. Accordingly, there is a need to be able to provide enhanced fuel economy and/or vehicle occupant comfort while maintaining the driver in a vehicle speed control loop.